Whenever someone call or write about turning one of their ideas into startup. It’s always really fun to chat with these people like this, getting to hear some of their pretty nifty ideas, see what the think of the emerging areas, and just to get to know new people. During this SV trip, I questioned myself “do I need to be in Silicon Valley to be a successful start-up entrepreneur?” It is a tough question but I answer will be consistent: no, but in Silicon Valley, it sure help.

Before I came to Silicon Valley, I heard that Silicon Valley had an entire eco-system built around start-ups. I didn’t get it in the first place. Having experienced the whole SV trip visiting companies like Plug And Play, meebo and so on… I finally get it.

1) The people in Silicon Valley is filled with people who have deep expertise in technology and startups. Some may become members of your startups, others may advise you so that you do not repeat the same mistakes they did when they first started out. The same people are likely to have worked in startups before, and thus they understand the unique constraints and culture of a startup.

2) Stanford University. The school has huge pool of networks and full of new technology and ideas. Networking is important for startups and business!

3) Service provider Industry. In Silicon Valley, you have an entire industry built around helping startups with their essential needs. When I talked to one of the entrepreneur at Younoodle, she is from New York and the reason why she moved over to Silicon Valley because rent is so much cheaper here. Real estate agents will help you find a 3,000 square foot office help you in the hope that one day your tiny startup will become a big startup that needs 100,000 square feet of space. Even the landlord will enter into a lease with a company that has no operating history with only 1 month’s security deposit!

If you need help in hiring people, dozens of recruiters who specialize in recruiting technical and managerial talent for startups are just a phone call away.

4) Funding your business. Once you’ve gone about building an initial team and have launched a product that people finding your product useful, you might need additional funds to help scale the business. That is where one of the numerous VCs in Silicon Valley can help.

So in conclusion, if you are a first time entrepreneur and who needed some guidance and a support structure to further your business, Silicon Valley is the best supportive place for building a company anywhere in the world.

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